The Andy Griffith Plaza

The Andy Griffith Plaza. Honoring Andrew Samuel Griffith. Andy Griffith was a North Carolina icon, actor, musician, writer, and lifelong advocate of the arts. Griffith was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina on June 1, 1926 to Carl Lee Griffith and Geneva Nunn Griffith. He had a humble small-town upbringing and spent much of his time performing on stage at Grace Moravian Church and Mount Airy High School, where he graduated in 1944. In 1949, he earned a Bachelor of Music from UNC Chapel Hill. After graduation, Griffith taught high school music classes in Goldsboro for three years while honing his storytelling and acting skills, notably starring as Sir Walter Raleigh in the long-running production of the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island. His 1953 comedy recording "What It Was, Was Football" moved him in big-break fashion to the Ed Sullivan Show, and he then starred in "No Time for Sergeants" on TV in 1955. The year 1960 marked the beginning of "The Andy Griffith Show" which ran almost eight years and brought him immense critical and commercial success. "Our basic theme was love," Griffith once said, "and understanding one another, and hoping the best for one another. Love." His portrayal of a small-town sheriff on the "Andy Griffith Show" left an enduring impression on the hearts and minds of people who continue to long for a slower paced life where neighbors still care about each other. Is the fictional town of "Mayberry" based on Mount Airy? Andy Griffith once said, "People started saying that Mayberry was based on Mount Airy. It sure sounds like it." He had further success on "Matlock", which ran for nine seasons beginning in 1986. In 2005, Griffith received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, and closer to home, he was one of the first three recipients of the Carolina Performing Arts Lifetime Achievement Awards. Griffith died in 2012 at age 86, and was buried on Roanoke Island., The Andy Griffith Plaza project was led by Mount Airy Downtown, Inc. in partnership with the Mount Airy Tourism Development Authority, the city of Mount Airy, and Surrey Bank and Trust. The plaza features five hyper-realistic portraits of Andy Griffith by Greensboro street artist, Jeks. The mural was painted primarily with spray paint and was completed in April 2022. The portraits span Griffith's extensive career. From left to right: A headshot portrait from the 1958 "Onionhead" film, the second and third images in the middle are headshots from "The Andy Griffith Show" series, the fourth image is a headshot taken in the 1960s; and the final image on the right is a photo of Griffith shown in Toluca Lake, California during a 1987 interview.